The Good, Bad and Ugly From Texas’ Wild Win Over Ohio State

The Texas Longhorns took a first half that had fans hurling curses, throwing obscene fingers and feeling a general sense of straight misery, and completely turned it on its head.

It was four quarters of the most up-and-down emotions a football fan can feel.

It wasn’t perfect, but the 24-23 win over No. 1 Ohio State will never be forgotten.

The Good — The Run Game

Longhorns running back Hollywood Smothers runs against the Ohio State Buckeyes. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Steve Sarkisian may have found the elite running game his offensive philosophy so desperately needs.

Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown combined for 128 yards on 31 carries.

Outside of Brown’s fumble on the first play, nearly every time Texas needed solid yards, its running backs delivered.

Smothers especially looked the part.

The NC State transfer looked shifty all night, routinely making the first defender miss and fighting for extra yards. More importantly, he found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter, the second of which was likely the biggest carry of his short Texas tenure.

The run game wasn’t especially flashy, but it didn’t need to be.

The Longhorns entered the season with two new running backs expected to revitalize a rushing attack that struggled at times last year. Against arguably the best defense they’ll see all season, both showed why.

The Bad — Jeremiah Smith Had Texas’ Number Nearly All Game

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

After two relatively quiet games against Texas, Jeremiah Smith finally broke through.

The Ohio State superstar finished with eight receptions for 164 yards and a touchdown, repeatedly finding ways to hurt a Texas secondary that almost always knew where the ball was going.

Smith accounted for nearly 60% of Julian Sayin’s 278 passing yards.

For all the praise Texas’ defense deserves for allowing only three points after halftime, sometimes the best receiver in college football simply looks like it.

Luckily for the Longhorns, they aren’t likely to face another receiver like him for the rest of the regular season.

The Ugly — Texas Couldn’t Get Out of Its Own Way

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It’s almost impressive how many times Texas found a way to shoot itself in the foot.

Brown’s fumble on the first play of the game instantly took the wind out of DKR’s sails. Coleman’s dropped pass that turned into a miraculous interception certainly didn’t help. And Wingo’s drop — which gave the Texas faithful a flashback to 2025 — left nearly no hope entering halftime.

Sarkisian wasn’t much help in the first half, either.

If Texas had lost to the Buckeyes, the play call that likely would’ve been scrutinized the most was the end-around to Wingo toward the end of the first half.

Rather than relying on a run game that had proven efficient in an otherwise inefficient offense, Sarkisian opted to fake the handoff and give the ball to Wingo on fourth-and-one.

Jermaine Matthews tackles Ryan Wingo on the end around and Ohio State gets the ball back! pic.twitter.com/cGE3mr1MOS
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) September 13, 2026

It blew up in Texas’ face, as Wingo lost 10 yards. The Buckeyes got the ball back and eventually scored to take a commanding 20-3 lead into halftime.

They weren’t insignificant mistakes. They were the difference between Texas controlling the game and entering halftime desperate for answers.

And that’s perhaps the most encouraging — and concerning — takeaway from Saturday night.

Texas can’t consistently play that sloppily and expect to beat elite teams. But against the No. 1 team in the nation, the Longhorns found a way to commit a slew of self-inflicted mistakes and still win.

There are worse problems to have.

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